State Dept: Nothing New Revealed In Benghazi Hearing

10 May 2013

State Department Deputy Spokesman Patrick Ventrell said that while he respected the witnesses service, “In terms of their viewpoints and adding to the public testimony, the public record about this, we don’t believe that new information was necessarily presented…” When asked to clarify Ventrell said that the topics covered in the hearing were all “looked at in great detail.”

Transcript:

MR. VENTRELL: I just want to say that we’re all grateful for the service of the individuals who testified yesterday, their service to their country. We’re particularly grateful for all the services of the people who were in Libya through these tragic attacks. You know that this has been a hard year for the Department. We’ve had some tragic losses, and this has been a period of mourning for so many of us in the State Department family. So that’s really our perspective in terms of the service of these individuals. In terms of their viewpoints and adding to the public testimony, the public record about this, we don’t believe that new information was necessarily presented that hadn’t been already either entered into the public record through congressional testimony or investigated by the ARB or otherwise looked at. But we are grateful for their service. In terms of —QUESTION: But you’re saying that you don’t think there was anything new that came out?MR. VENTRELL: Right. We’re not – I mean, these are things that have been – whether it’s about military assets being available or many of the other things that were raised, whether it’s the FEST team or some of these other issues, these are issues that have all been looked at in great detail.